The One Left Standing
by dancedude09
Summary: Her life of dreams and hope would soon be over, and she’d start a new life. A life she was dreading. She’d go on living until she ended up like the one lady down the street with nine cats. The one left alone.
1. one

**Note: **I don't own anything. This story may be confusing, so sorry for that.

**The One Left Standing**  
_one._

The dress Haley James wore was black, she thought it was rather fitting. She may as well be mourning the death of everything she had ever known. Her life of dreams and hope would soon be over with and she'd start a new life. A life she was dreading. She'd go on living until she ended up like the one lady down the street with nine cats. The one left alone.

She hated being alone.

Brooke picked the dress. She said it made her waist look smaller and her boobs look bigger, but Haley just thought it made her look like a tramp. Well, if her life was ending, she might as well go down in style. Sliding on her black strapped shoe, she let herself shed a tear for the life that had been hers for twenty-seven years.

Maybe she could really die at twenty-seven and relive her current life over. She could redo all the moments she treasured and correct all the mistakes she had made, like a big Band-Aid fixing all of her boo-boo's. That would be ideal because who wants to quit being a dreamer at twenty-seven? Who wants to see the death of their happiness?

_"Hey," a boy cleared his throat. "Uh, what is wrong with you? Er, I mean, are you okay?" Haley looked up from her spot on the rickety old swing set to peer into a pair of ice-blue eyes. He seemed uncomfortable, slightly confused, but mostly, annoyed. He set the basketball he was carrying in his hands on the grass beside the swing set and took the swing next to her.  
She sniffed, "My sister told me that I am obnoxious and that I don't fit in with my family." She blushed, embarrassed that she had just revealed so much about herself to a boy she had never met before.  
"Oh," he nodded and then stayed silent for a moment. She began to worry he thought she was a baby loser, but when she opened her mouth to apologize for being a whiner, he spoke again. "Siblings are a pain. I only have one brother, but I think he's an idiot."  
"Yeah," she sighed, relaxing. "I have five older brothers and sisters."  
"Wow," he laughed and kicked the ground underneath him to swing him higher. "That's a lot. One time, I asked my dad how come my parents stopped having kids after me, and he said that we're all they can handle."  
She giggled, letting her feet dangle, "My parents meant to stop before me." A moment of sadness passed over her little face, "That's probably why my sister says I don't fit."  
He scoffed, "I'm sure you fit. Think of it this way, before you, your family wasn't finished. That's probably why your parents ended up having you and that's where you fit: as the baby." She grinned at this boy she had just met, "You're pretty smart."  
He blushed slightly, "My grandpa gave me told me that once."  
"Well, I guess that means your grandpa's smart then." She smiled and slowed her swing to a halt. Confusion passed over his features again, but he mirrored her and stopped swinging, too. She stood and wiped off her purple sundress.  
"Are you leaving?" He asked, very quickly with a hint of disappointment.  
She nodded and pointed to the sun that was setting over the river. "It's almost sunset, so I have to get home to eat dinner."  
"Oh," he furrowed his brow and picked up his basketball. "Yeah, I should probably get home, too. Which way do you live?"  
She pointed to the left, "Birch Street."  
His eyes lit up in delight, "That's my street. Come on, we can walk together."  
"Okay," she smiled. They walked across the field in silence until she pointed at the ball in his hands. "Do you play basketball?"  
"Oh, yeah." He nodded, pointing behind them at the basketball court to the left of the swing set. "I go there to play. My brother was supposed to come play against me, but my mom made him clean his room."  
"That's cool that your brother plays sports with you." She kicked at a rock in the middle of the walkway.  
When they caught up to the rock she had kicked, he kicked it even farther ahead of them. "Not just sports, basketball. But don't your sisters play dolls with you?"  
She giggled again, "I don't play with dolls, and my sisters are all a lot older than me. Taylor, the mean one, is only four years older than me, but I wouldn't want to play anything with her anyways. Sometimes, my brother, Eric, will let me do stuff with him, like yesterday we baked cookies with his girlfriend."  
"I bake with my mom a lot. She owns a café." They turned down their street and he pointed to a very large brick house. "That's my house."  
She pointed to a smaller house a little closer and on the opposite side of the street. "That one's mine." He nodded. There was a girl coming out of her house and getting into a car. "That's my brother's girlfriend, Lauren."  
"She's pretty." He commented offhandedly, dribbling the ball against the cement. "You're cuter." Her cheeks flushed, wondering if he had really said that or not, but she couldn't help herself and a grin spread across her face. They reached her house, and he turned to her suddenly, "What's your name, anyways?"  
"Haley." She spoke through the crimson blush. "Haley James. Yours?"  
"Nathan Scott," he smiled and walked backwards away from her. "See you around, Haley James."  
She watched him disappear into his house and let her seven-year old self gush over how a boy she had just met called her cute._

_The next day, she was stared as her brother pace around the kitchen, holding the phone in one hand and a piece of notebook paper in the other. He was yelling at his best friend, Mark, through the phone about something Lauren had done, which apparently had something to do with the paper in his hand.  
Lydia James appeared behind her, "Bub, you have visitors at the door. Here," she smiled, handing her a plate of watermelon, "take them some of this."  
Unfortunately, Taylor appeared, too, and snickered. "Is grandma here to visit? Because it's not like Haley has friends."  
Haley felt her heart drop at her sister's words, but wondered all the same who could be at the door. She watched as Eric stopped his tirade and glared at Taylor. He bit, sarcastically, "Yeah, because the people you hang out with are really your friends."  
Haley scooted quickly from the kitchen, listening to the fading sounds of her mother trying to keep the peace and Eric restarting his screaming match with the phone. She stopped at the front door, nervous to find out who would be on the other side and also angry she was too short to see out of the viewfinder. Swinging open the door, she was happily astonished to find Nathan and a blonde haired boy standing in front of her. "Uh, hello."  
"Hey, Haley," Nathan greeted easily and gestured to the boy next to him, "this is my brother, Lucas." Lucas smiled at her.  
"Hi, Lucas." She squeaked. "My mom gave me this watermelon. Do you guys want some?"  
"Yeah," Nathan nodded excitedly, "watermelon is my favorite."  
"Really? Cantaloupe had always been my favorite." Haley said, taking a piece of the watermelon anyways.  
Lucas brightened up at her statement, "Cantaloupe is my favorite, too."  
She grinned and Nathan rolled his eyes, "Well, are you going to go get your suit or sit here and talk to us for forever?" Lucas punched him in the arm. "She can talk if she wants to."  
"My suit?" She frowned, confused as to what Nathan was talking about.  
"Yeah," he sighed, slightly irritated. "You know, swim suit. So that you can swim with us."  
It was then Haley realized that they had on swimming trunks that were still a little damp. "Where can we swim at?"  
"We have a pool in our backyard." Lucas answered, rubbing his hand on his shirt to smear off some melon juice. "We came over to ask you if you wanted to swim with us, but Nathan forgot that part." He told her, glaring at Nathan.  
She laughed, "Okay, I'll go get my suit. I'll be right back." She set down the plate of watermelon and took off back inside, listening to the sounds of the bickering brothers behind her. She found her mother doing laundry, "Mom, where's my swim suit?"  
"The polka dot one is in your underwear drawer, but the flower one is still in the wash." Her mother answered, pointing to the humming washing machine that held her favorite bathing suit. Haley groaned, but took off toward her room, ripping through her drawer in search of the other one. "Are you going somewhere with those boys, bub?"  
"To their pool to swim." She muttered, throwing her underwear crazily around.  
Her mother, placed her hands over Haley's to calm her and reached into the drawer and pulled out the suit instantly. "Who are they and where to they live?"  
"Nathan and Lucas Scott and they across the street. I met Nathan yesterday at the park." She slipped her rainbow dress over her head and pulled on the blue one piece polka dotted suit then pulled the dress back on as a cover-up.  
Her mother paused a moment. "Okay, bub. Be back before sundown. Eric will be here. Daddy and I are going to dinner with Daddy's boss."  
"Okay, mom." She yelled back at her mother as she flew from the room. She reached the front door again and heard the brothers yelling at each other from the other side. "I'm ready." She announced, causing them both to look over at her.  
"Good," Nathan smiled at her, but walked quickly away, leaving her to walk to their house with Lucas.  
"So, you're Nathan's brother?" She said, nearly smacking herself for asking such an obvious question.  
"Yeah, I'm older though. I'm eight. He's seven." He told her, then asked, "How old are you?"  
She smiled, knowing that a boy who was her age thought she was cute. "I'm seven, too."  
He chuckled, "I think everyone that lives around here is seven, or at least it feels like that." She felt at ease with Lucas, like everything in life was okay. He radiated calm and harmony, like her brother when he wasn't angry.  
"Probably because you're the one that's eight." She giggled, noticing that Lucas's eyes, although the same color as Nathan's, weren't really the same at all as his brother's.  
They reached the backyard and Lucas grabbed her hand, tugged her behind him, and motioned her to be quiet. Just then, Nathan jumped out from around the corner and sprayed them with a water gun. She gasped at the cold water hitting her warm body. The day, June twenty-first, was an extremely hot and humid one, just as the day before had been. She had heard the weatherman say there was a thunderstorm coming that night which would make the humidity subside. She peeled off her wet sun dress and laid it in the sun to dry.  
"Really funny, Nathan." Lucas frowned sarcastically, pushing his brother into the pool angrily.  
When he came up from underwater, Nathan was still laughing, "Aw, big brother, did I get you wet?" Haley laughed and sat down on the edge of the pool, letting Nathan swim over to her. "I like your swim suit, Haley. The polka-dots.. I mean, well, it's cool."  
She blushed again, "Thanks." Maybe he saw her blush, but Nathan pulled her into the cold pool and Lucas looked over knowingly at his little brother and rolled his eyes.  
That night, as she was listening to the storm and Eric watching TV in the other room, she couldn't help think about the raven haired boy and how the polka dot swim suit was her new favorite._


	2. two

**The One Left Standing**  
two.

_Somewhere along the way, Haley had accepted Nathan and Lucas into her life as more than a fleeting moment, and by the next summer, more than their ages had changed. Another one of Haley's siblings, Vivian, had graduated and moved away, leaving only Eric, Taylor, and Haley left in the James's household. Haley bonded with the Scott boys' mother, Karen, as if she were her own mom, and some days after school, she and Nathan would walk to Karen's Café to eat before going to play. It was one of the things she looked forward to during the long school year. Lucas had started playing basketball with kids older than him, leaving Nathan to play by himself. Haley would go and cheer him on and sometimes she would pass him the ball when he asked her to, but she knew she could never be the same. Eric had gotten his driver's licence and seemed to be home much less than he had been before. Haley noticed she lost a lot more fights with Taylor since then. But the biggest change, or maybe not-change, was that Nathan could make any moment unforgettable._

_And she sometimes wondered why, exactly, that was._

_"Hello," Nathan waved a hand in front of her face. "Anyone there?" She snapped out of her reverie and looked directly at him. "Jeesh, Hales. You totally spaced out." And that was another change, sometime in the past year, Haley couldn't quite pinpoint when, the Scott brothers had given her their own nickname, Hales, which she thought suited her better than bub._

_"Sorry," she blushed and then stuck her tongue out at him, "I was just thinking about how badly I am beating you at this game." She held up her video game controller and diverted his attention to it._

_"Yeah, I'm sure." He grumbled. She figured he was irritated that she was, in fact, beating him at his racing game. His brow furrowed as he concentrated hard on the car he was controlling, which Haley had noticed he did whenever he was confused or disappointed or, like he was now, concentrating. And in that moment, she couldn't help but smile because she had someone like Nathan, who she knew inside and out. He looked over at her, saw her smiling to herself and rolled his eyes. "Why am I friends with a girl?"_

_"For the same reasons I am friends with a boy." She told him, matter-of-factly, reaching over to shove him a little. He laughed, threw down his controller and shoved her back. She scrambled to her feet, giggling as she jumped around the room, diverting him. "You can't catch me!" She sing-songed teasingly. He caught her legs and her mouth formed into an O as she fell. Colliding into the side of his desk, Haley didn't register the pain, instead focusing on the broken lamp. She saw his face go pale, and she looked remorseful, "I didn't mean to break your basketball lamp, Nate."_

_He shook his head dismissively and shouted for his mother, who had heard the great crash and arrived quickly. Immediately, she helped Haley off the floor and shouted to Nathan, "Go get a towel."_

_Nathan bolted from the room as Lucas appeared at the door, holding a basketball, with his sweaty shirt draped over his shoulder. "What's going on in..?" He started, but stopped when he took in the sight of Haley who had yet to realize the bloody, jagged cut on her forehead. It was right near her hairline and making her soft, curly brown hair stain a horrible red color._

_Karen spoke calmly to her son, "Lucas, go tell your father to start the car and to call Haley's parents. He's in his office."  
He nodded blankly, almost running into Nathan as he tore from the room. Nathan gave his mother the towel wordlessly, his eyes wide as he watched his mother apply it to the wound. More rapidly than he thought, the white towel was soaked to a crimson color. The color of blood. _

_Haley's blood._

_Haley became worried at all the panicked faces she was looking at. She pleaded with Nathan to tell her something,"Nate, what's wrong with my head?"_

_"I'm sorry, Hales." He whispered to her, his eyes welling up with tears. "I'm so sorry." He stayed out of the way until they placed her in the backseat of their SUV. He climbed in next to her and folded his hand over hers. She felt instantly comforted, although still deeply afraid. "You're going to be okay, Hales."_

_She saw her parents pull out of their driveway when the SUV reached the end of their street. She wanted to turn around and wave to her mom, but she felt overcome with dizziness. She let the clean side of her head rest on Nathan's shoulder and waited for the ride to be over. Occasionally, Karen would turn around to check on her, each time Haley would give her a weak smile._

_They arrived at the hospital in what seemed to be a much longer amount of time than it normally takes. The panic returned to Haley's face and she whispered feebly to Nathan, "I hate hospitals. I really hate them."_

_He tightened his grip on her hand and whispered back, "I'm here; it's okay. I won't let anyone hurt you. Ever."  
She thought about that day often over the next several years because it marked two very important firsts in her relationship with Nathan: the first time Nathan had hurt her and the first time he had promised to protect her. And it wouldn't be the last time he did either._

"I think it's about time we go, don't you think?" A hesitant voice came from the doorway.

Haley moved her eyes up to take in her best friend. She laid back down on the bed and muttered, "Just a little longer, Brookie." Or maybe never, she had wanted to add, because the longer she could stay in the comforts of this room, the longer her life could stay hers. The longer she could stay a believer.

She really wanted to stay.

_"Come on, Hales, please!" He pleaded, even sticking out his bottom lip. "You love coming to the beach house with us. We can stay the night there and everything."_

__

"Nathan," she sighed, switching her weight from one foot to the other, "I wouldn't be able to go to the beach because I can't get sand in my head." She pointed to her fresh wound that was covered up with gauze and medical tape. That day at the hospital, she had to get four stitches in her head as well as numerous brain function tests that probably scarred her for life. Maybe it was unfair to blame Nathan fully, but she had a gash in her head that Taylor said would leave an ugly mark there for all eternity. So she decided that she would take a break from Nathan for a few days, even if that included missing out on a trip to the beach house.

He groaned, "Then we won't go to the beach! Please, Hales. It'll just be me, you and my mom because Lucas and my dad went on a golfing trip with my Grandpa and uncle for the weekend. Please, we can make cookies or something." He stepped closer to her, silently begging her to say yes.

She frowned, "Well," she started, but her mother appeared at the door behind her.

"Nathan, hello," Lydia smiled, "what are you two troublemakers up to today?"

"Hi, Mrs. James," Nathan smiled politely and Haley rolled her eyes. Why did Nathan have to be all mushy-gushy with her mom to make her like him so much? "I was just asking Haley if she could spend the night. We're going to go to the beach house."  
Nathan smiled evilly at Haley when Lydia turned to focus on Haley. Haley's face looked part disbelief and part amazement that Nathan could bend the truth like that but still be telling the truth. Lydia grinned down at Haley, "Oh, well that's so nice, Nathan. Haley, I'll go pack your overnight bag."

She didn't know why, but she didn't rebut her mother and stay at her own house. Instead, she openly gaped at how Nathan just charmed his mother. In the future, this would come in handy for them, but all eight year old Haley could think about was how wrong, how completely wrong that had been. And then she wondered, was it wrong she was slightly impressed?  
He shrugged at her incredulous gaze and then a slow smirk spread across his face, "You know you were going to cave anyways. No one can say 'no' to the beach house."

"That's so not even the point, Nathan!" She scolded him with a smile then lowered her voice to a whisper, "You just lied to my mom."

He struck his foot against the cement, "It wasn't a lie. It was just a slightly different truth."

She giggled at the feeling that overwhelmed her body. The lie wasn't that important because he was right; she was going to cave, but still, it was a lie. A lie that she enjoyed somewhat. It was a glimpse into the dangerous side of her best friend which she would learn is a much more prominent side of him than she had originally thought. When her mother returned with the bag, they both grinned innocently and took off towards Nathan's house where Karen was waiting in the car. The entire car ride they laughed each time they looked at each other, and all of Haley's anger and resentment towards him for hurting her vanished.

While they walked into the house, her hand was enclosed in his. Even at a young age, they had fit perfectly, almost as if they were made for each other, and sometimes, she thought that maybe, just maybe, they were.

"So," Karen started, "are you two going to go get ready for the beach?" She asked, setting their bags in the expansive entryway, heading straight for the kitchen to put some groceries away. Haley and Nathan followed her.

"Nope." Nathan spoke up before Haley. Karen looked down quizzically at him, but he offered no explanation, for which Haley was grateful. "Can we bake cookies instead?"

"I suppose, are you sure that's what you want to do?" Karen frowned with more confusion than before.

Nathan nodded absently, already in search of all the ingredients. Karen shrugged and left the room to put away their bags. Haley poked his head and pointed towards the flour, sugar and chocolate chips she had gathered. He stood upright and scoffed, "Sure, you find all of the easy stuff."

She smiled, noticing again how when they first became friends he was roughly her height, but now, only one year later, he was already taller than her. "You were looking in the completely wrong cupboard. That's where your mom keeps the cans."  
"How do you know that? This is my house, you know." Nathan crossed his arms and pouted. Haley rolled her eyes and called him a brat in her head.

"I come here just as much as you do," she pointed out, retrieving a mixing bowl from underneath the island. Karen returned to the room, and Nathan immediately asked her if he could be the one to mix the dough, knowing that it was Haley's favorite job. She glared at him but turned her attention to Karen. "Sure, Nathan. Who wants to crack the eggs?" She voiced, holding up two white eggs.

Haley smiled when she noticed Nathan didn't volunteer and stood on a stool to reach the bowl. She cracked one egg perfectly, but the other, she dropped all over her white and blue tank top. Immediately, Nathan burst into laughter and Haley's face flushed red. Karen rushed to the sink to wet a towel.

"Oh, Hales," Nathan choked between laughs. "That's why I didn't want to crack the eggs." He pointed to his basketball t-shirt. "I can't mess up Jordan."

Haley's mouth broke into a devious smile. "Oh, really?" She said before she grabbed his arm and smushed him into her, tightening her arms around his middle so that she could rub her messy torso all over his. An emotion Haley couldn't quite place passed over his face, but it wasn't anger like she thought it would be. Instead, he took a small step away from her and flashed a shy smile.

Karen sighed when she turned to see the mess had spread to the other child. "Come on, I guess you will have to take baths while I wash your clothes."

They took baths, separately, then changed into their pajamas, even though they argued it was much too soon for that. Karen said it was either watch a movie or go to the beach, so they opted for The Lion King and a bowl of popcorn in bed. The overhead fan in the room kept them cool in the late June heat. Officially, it was Nathan's room, but since Haley had started staying the night at the beach house, it became theirs, and the blue photo frame on the bedside table that displayed Haley and Nathan lying in the sand together proved that fact. The walls of the room were half blue and half white, separated by strip of wood. The bed and furniture were all white, conveying a peaceful feeling that Haley truly loved. It was made even better if the sliding door was open so that they could hear the ocean waves crash in from the balcony.

That night, they watched the sun set together, sitting close together on the balcony's porch swing, then crawled back into bed to watch a sports movie that surprisingly, they both enjoyed. Haley turned her head to look at Nathan who was nearly asleep. "Nate, you were right this morning." She whispered into the darkness and got a murmur of confusion in response. "I can't say no to the beach house." Underneath the white sheets, she gave his clammy hand a squeeze then turned on her side to gaze out at the starry night sky. Perfect, she thought. Perfect.

She dragged one of her hands over those familiar white sheets and smiled wistfully. If these walls could talk, they could tell a tumultuous tale of a boy and a girl. A girl who got a broken heart, and a boy who would get everything he ever wanted.


	3. three

**A/N: **Hey, thanks for the reviews. Yes, I did post this on the RC for those of you who wondered.

**The One Left Standing**  
_three._

"I fully support making a late entry," Brooke started again, "but we're going to miss dinner if you don't get moving soon." Her tone was joking and playful, but it was in a quiet whisper and clearly laced with sympathy. Haley James did not need sympathy. She needed an escape.

He used to be her escape.

She continued to stare at the white wall, pondering the reasons her life went from a real-life fairytale to a spinning vortex of misery. Had it been just one decision that had killed her happiness, or was it a combination of many wrong turns that had spit her out at this dead end? If it were the latter, was it possible to take a detour or call for a tow truck? She desperately needed some direction, or even better, someone to yank her out of the rut that her life had become.

_"Let's go, Hales!" Nathan hissed, waiting impatiently outside the girl's restroom door. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and shot a sideways glance to the table of boys nearby. They were talking about his favorite subject, basketball, and he really wanted to get over there before they started talking about the newest Tree Hill gossip: the strange high school Algebra teacher, Mr. Tucker was spotted with the pristine and married second grade teacher, Mrs. Kelp. _

_  
Haley emerged from the bathroom, frowning and tugging at her new red, white and blue sun dress. "Why are you in such a rush? The fireworks don't start for a few more hours, and your mom said-" She was interrupted by his hand clasping around her wrist and tugging her through the hoards of people that had come out for the Tree Hill Fourth of July Festival. "Nathan!" She shrieked as she almost tripped over a stray chair, but he was unresponsive to her shout and kept forging through. Then suddenly, he stopped and she found herself in front of a table of unfamiliar boys. _

_  
They looked up at the newly-arrived twosome and gave them looks of confusion. "Who's the girl, Scott?" One of them asked and Haley tried to hide her shock. She knew him, well, she knew his name. He was Robby, and they had sat next to each other when their class went to art. She waited for Nathan to introduce her to the table, but it never came. _

_Instead, he glared at Robby and told him to just shut up; Robby listened, but he didn't stop eyeing Haley warily. Nathan took the last available seat at the table and made no movement to help Haley grab an extra chair. Instead, he provoked the boys back into talks of basketball and left her to stand there, helplessly. For a while, she stood awkwardly, waiting for someone to address her, but that, too, never happened. _

_She spotted Lucas over in the elephant ear line, and she quietly removed herself from the group to join the line with her friend. _

_  
"Hey, Hales." He grinned easily. "Want an elephant ear?" He offered, holding up the twenty dollar bill he had been given to pay for it. His eye glinted mischievously, "My dad's paying." _

_  
Haley nodded eagerly, anticipating the taste of the warm, sugary dough on her tongue. "Yes, please!" She gazed around the festival, "Where is your dad?" _

_  
Lucas shrugged, "He was over at the dealership's booth passing out magnets, but he wasn't there when I passed by a few minutes ago. Where's Nathan?" _

_  
Haley's face turned stony, but she indicated to the table at which Nathan still sat. "He's over there talking about basketball and ignoring me." _

_  
Lucas looked angry on her behalf for a moment but then changed his demeanor and slung an arm around Haley's shoulders. "Well," he started. "You can hang out with me. I'm going to hang with the guys soon, but you know most of them anyway." _

_  
Haley smiled at her buddy, Lucas, who was like another older brother to her. She took the elephant ear from him and they started walking down the town's main street. Before she realized it, Lucas had led her to empty table much like the one Nathan, Robby and the other jerks were sitting at. _

_Thankfully, she couldn't see or hear those mean boys, nor was she even sure they were in the same area. She spotted a boy at the ring toss booth who looked like Nathan at one point which only made her dwell on the promise she made to Nathan that she would watch the fireworks with him. But then she remembered his promise not to leave her alone at the festival and kept talking with Lucas. _

_  
"Hey, guys!" Lucas shouted to the group of boys walking by their table. They shuffled to a stop and looked at Lucas with confusion. "You all remember Haley, right?" He asked when they got closer. The boys nodded their heads to confirm and some gave her a small smile. _

_  
"Hey, Haley." Said a sandy brown haired boy she remembered to be Jake as he took a chug of his water bottle. "Where's that annoying kid you're always with?" _

_  
Haley balled up some of her dress and then released it, repeating this many times. "Nathan is with his boy friends." _

_  
A shorter, chubbier boy snorted and swatted at Lucas, "I always figured Nathan swung that way." _

_Lucas groaned then smacked the back of the kid's head, "Junk, shut up." He scooted his chair closer to Haley so the other boys could pull up more chairs. "Haley, don't listen to anything these guys say. Their moms didn't teach them proper manners." _

_  
"Yo, Luke." One boy said. "Don't be talking about my momma because she'd come beat yo sorry butt. She taught me manners just fine." _

_  
Jake swatted at the boy's stomach, "Skills, your mom is like a foot shorter than all of us, she wouldn't be able to beat anyone." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bouncy ball. He made it ricochet off the table and bounce towards Skills. _

_  
Skills' face took on a very serious look as he turned the ball over in his hands, "My momma is scary when she mad though, man. You ain't seen her like that before." _

_  
"Yeah, sure man. Whatever you say." The boys suppressed their laughter and Haley found herself laughing along at the thought of a boy being so afraid of his mother. They began to talk animatedly about something that Haley was extremely glad wasn't basketball, leaving Skills to sulk and mutter things about how scary she was and how they couldn't understand. _

_  
Haley stretched out on the wooden folding chair to listen and tore pieces off of her elephant ear. The sun began to set over the river, and she counted the minutes it took for it to disappear beyond the horizon. She knew the fireworks would be starting within the next half hour and that Nathan was probably looking for her or maybe he was still with the boys, she thought, letting the bitterness settle in. _

_Nearby, a few teenagers were playing acoustic guitars under a tree and she watched people drop various coins and dollars into their collection hat. The oldies cover band that the city had hired to play at the festival had packed up sometime before and she could now hear the soft music that floated from the guitars. Lucas laughed at something Jake said and Haley smiled along, enjoying the breeze that wrapped her up in summer's warmth. Her eyes fluttered close when she rested her head on her hand. _

_  
"Haley! Oh, we were so worried." Karen's voice sounded near to her and she forced her eyes to open. "Lydia, she's over here! She's fine, she's with Lucas and his friends." _

_  
Haley gulped anxiously as she watched her mother rush towards her. "Haley James, you know better than to run off in crowds! Thank goodness Nathan found us when he did, otherwise you could have been kidnaped or worse!" _

_  
For the first time, Haley noticed Nathan standing behind his mother, almost using her as a shield. Haley sent a glare his way for a great number of reasons, mostly for charming his mother so deeply that he could do no wrong in her eyes. _

"_Mom," she moaned as her mother thanked Lucas for watching over her and dragged Haley away from the table, "I was with Lucas the whole time!" _

_  
"Yeah, well, now you are going to be with us until it is time to go home." Lydia stated, making sure to dot the end of the sentence with an air of finality so that Haley understood she had no other options but hang out with the grownups and the last person she wanted to be with, Nathan.  
_

_They came to another clearing with tables set up and her mother led her to a table where her father and Mr. Scott sat talking with a large group of important looking people. The group swivelled their attention from Mr. Scott to them when Nathan's father spoke clearly, "Ah, this is my lovely wife Karen and our youngest son, Nathan. And that is Jimmy's wife, Lydia, holding onto their youngest, Haley. Haley, you certainly worried us when you wandered off by yourself." _

_  
Lydia directed Haley to the seat across from her father and next to Nathan, which Haley scowled at. "She was with Lucas, Dan. He's such a sweet boy." _

_  
Karen cooed over her complement, launching into a story about how Lucas was such a gentlemen at their last dinner party that the Henderson's had ended up buying two new high end cars from Dan, which only Lydia listened to, as the others were swept back into conversation by Dan. Haley's father leaned over the table and eyed the two nine-year-olds. "You mom was really scared, Bub. If you promise not to venture away from Nathan and you two stay relatively close by, I'll let you go watch the fireworks." _

_  
Haley's face alight with the joyful thought of escaping the business and mom talk that currently enveloped the table. She glanced at Nathan who shrugged and nodded his agreement to Mr. James's rules. Having to keep near him would be an annoyance, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. Nathan's irritated voice muttered in her ear, "What are you waiting for, Hales? Come on, let's get out of here!" _

_  
She grabbed a blanket from the pile at her father's feet and followed him to an open space of grass. She laid the blanket down and they both settled themselves down onto it. They sat in silence for a while, waiting for the first firework to be set off, occasionally swatting at mosquitos that landed on them. _

_  
Then, Nathan broke the silence with, "I'm sorry." _

_  
"For ratting me out to my mom or ignoring me?" She bit back, anger spreading across her features. He sighed and his brow furrowed. _

_  
"Both," he admitted honestly, "but I couldn't find you and your mom was the first person I saw. I was scared because I didn't know what happened to you, even though I knew it had to have been partly my fault." He paused for a moment, and she was quiet, too, though anger still coursed through her veins like a bad disease. "You know," he swallowed and cautiously turned to her, "they say that I like you." _

_  
"Well, of course you do." She scoffed, rolling her eyes at the stupid basketball boys who she cared very little about. "We're best friends." _

_  
He remained silent, looking down at his hands with a very odd expression, like something had been irritating him for a long time and he couldn't get it to go away. When he spoke again, his voice was stern, and his jaw was clenched. "No, Haley. You don't get it." _

_  
"Then what-?" She started to ask, confusion replacing her anger. _

_  
He interrupted her with a strained yell, "They think I like you, like you!" He emphasized the first like so that she understood what they were taunting him with. _

_  
He had shocked her into silence, which was marred only by the crackle of the first firework going off and the oohs from the crowds. She looked over at him, her brown eyes not quite meeting his blue ones. Could he see her blush in the dark? "Oh." She responded simply. _

_  
"What if they're right?" He spoke softly, so that only she could hear even though no one payed them any attention. "I mean, what if we really do like each other and this whole time we have been totally clueless because we're such good friends?" _

_  
She thought about that for a moment, thinking about how her older siblings sometimes did the same things she and Nathan did with their boyfriends and girlfriends, about how maybe if Nathan thought this, maybe it was true after all. "Well, maybe..." she let out a breath, "but how would we know?" _

_  
He swallowed again and their eyes finally met. She was surprised to feel that her heart sped up a little at the uncertainness of this conversation. "Well, I was thinking that we could kiss." _

_  
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at his words, but her face remained serious and steady. "Okay." She barely spoke, but knew that he had heard her, despite the booming gunpowder exploding in the background. _

_  
He nodded and licked his lips;she mirrored him. His head dipped slowly toward hers, and his lips made contact with hers. They paused with their lips together for a moment, and she tried to survey how she felt. She couldn't really focus on anything but the sensation in her lips, and when they pulled apart she could still them tingling from the contact. _

_  
"How do you feel?" He whispered, a slightly worried tone in his voice. They both were still oblivious to the fireworks show, even though the explosion seemed to get larger and louder, as if angry they weren't paying attention. _

_  
She gave him a weak smile, "Kind of the same, I guess." _

_  
He released a sigh of what she thought was relief and copied her smile, "Oh, good. Me, too." He turned his body over so he was laying on his back and motioned for her to do the same. Together, they watched the rest of the fireworks lighting up the night sky and remained blissful unaware of their turbulent future. "Happy Fourth, Hales."  
_  
The bed sagged slightly under Brooke's added body weight. Haley, who was lying on her back, cut her eyes to notice that Brooke had turned on her side and was staring down at her with big brown eyes. She tucked a lock of Haley's hair behind her ear and spoke softly, "I know this is going to be especially hard for you, but there are going to be a lot of us doing the make-believe-that-you're-happy skit tonight, so don't feel too alone, okay? And if it gets too unbearably stifling, you come find me, and we'll leave. I'll fake menstrual cramps or something."

She allowed a laugh at that, though it died in her mouth and sounded remarkably like another sob. Therefore, she wasn't surprised to find tears running down her cheeks again. She leaned her head into Brooke and let her forehead rest on hers. "Thanks, Brooke. Just give me a few minutes to retouch my make-up, and I'll meet you downstairs."

She positively beamed down at Haley before skipping away, lingering only for a moment in the doorway to call out, "And Haley, you better look bitchin' because we've got to make a lot of people jealous tonight!"

Oh, she was sure people would be jealous tonight. She was also sure it wouldn't be of her.

_The day following the kiss, the Scotts and Haley ventured to the beach house to spend the remainder of the holiday weekend, even though it rained the entire time. She and Nathan acted as if the kiss had never happened, simply going back to playing adventurers in the beach house attic, which was loaded with weird stuff Nathan said Mr. Scott had accumulated over the years from thankful clients or Christmases with Grandpa Royal. _

_  
The rest of the summer went by with a whirl of sand castles, flashlight tag, and of course, basketball. Before Haley knew it, her mother was dragging her and Taylor to the mall to buy back-to-school clothes. As she tried on uncountable jumpers, sweaters, skorts and turtlenecks, she wished profusely that Nathan was suffering with her but mostly hoped that they had been placed in the same fourth grade class. They had been in the same class since they met and she wasn't too keen on letting that tradition die. _

_  
Normally, the class lists would be mailed out a week or so before the start of the term, but a computer glitch this year had prevented that from happening. Instead, anxious students had to wait until the dreaded first day of school to find out their placements. She heard Taylor complaining on the phone that she couldn't possibly pick out her first day outfit if she wasn't sure if she had the cute soccer player in her class or not. But Haley had bigger problems than fashion choices. What if Nathan was placed in a different class and got a new best friend? What if that new friend was Robby who made sure Nathan never spoke to little Haley James again? Or what if he suddenly made friends with an all new person and became a bad seed like her sister, Vivian's, old best friend did? _

_  
All these terrible thoughts swam around in her head for the next two days and only intensified when she didn't see him at all during those two days. She had went over to his house once, but no one answered the front door and there was no one in his backyard. So she went blindly into the first day of school, clutching nothing but her backpack and lunchbox. Her dad took her to school for the first time since her mom was dropping off Taylor and making sure Eric actually drove to school. Her cheeks flushed when she passed by a group of girls who eyed her and her father skeptically. Her dad had never been, to put it nicely, the most formal guy, and he picked this day to wear an ancient grey band tee, khaki shorts and beat up sandals. "Oh, there's Karen and Nathan." _

_  
Her eyes swivelled frantically in the direction that his father indicated and caught sight of Nathan just as he saw her. They hurried toward each other, both launching into stories of their three total days apart. Nathan explained that his aunt, uncle and cousin were in Charlotte briefly so they stayed the night there to visit them, and Haley informed him about how horrible it was to be cooped up with Taylor. _

_  
The bell rang and together they walked into the school, leaving their respective parent behind. They waited in the back of the crowd as students checked the class lists which were now posted on the lobby bulletin board. Nathan gave Haley's hand a reassuring squeeze, though his face looked just as worried as hers did. _

_  
When the mass of students and stray parents dissipated, they made their way to the board. Haley gave Nathan a nudge and whispered, "You do it." _

_  
Nathan flashed a weak smile and then found the fourth grade lists. He first searched solely for her name, but must have missed it and when he went back through, he spotted his name first. The words Nathan Scott - Mrs. Wormat shone at him and he called out his class to Haley who smiled, "Oh! Eric says she's nice!" _

_  
Then he continued looking for Haley's name which he still couldn't find. It didn't even occur to him that the list was in alphabetical order until he had gone through the list at least three times. But her name was right there, wedged between Jackson, Elizabeth and Janney, Tyler. He held his breath as moved his finger across the page from her name to the teacher assignment column. When he read the name Mrs. Wormat he let out a gasp of happiness. "You're in Mrs. Wormat's class, too, Hales!" _

_She grinned at him, all thoughts of new best friend scenarios exiting her mind. He gave her a short hug before they rushed over to Mrs. Wormat's fourth grade class line. From there, the day blurred by in a frenzy of issuing new books and getting permission slips to sign, and by the end of the day, Haley and Nathan were tired and ready for a quick dip in the pool. Mr. Scott picked them both up and they piled into the backseat. They talked enthusiastically about how this year was going to be awesome and about a hundred other positive adjectives. Nathan mentioned he'd finally get to start playing in little league basketball, and Haley chattered about how nice Mrs. Wormat really was. Neither anticipated that their idyllic fourth grade year would soon be mixed up with a little bit of chaos. _


End file.
